THE CIVIL SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 522, 1 June 1909, Page 8

THE CIVIL SERVICE.

( RETRENCHMENT IN EARNEST. TEMPORARY CLERKB DISMISSED. OTHER. PROJECTS FOR ECONOMY. The effects rf tbo Prime Minister's to- : trenchment .. schomo were visited upon the rank and'filo of the Civil Servico for practically the first time yesterday. A considerable number of Civil Servants had boon retired previously, but they were all men of ad- '; vanced years, whoso sorvices the Government might earlier havo , dispensed with, apart from any motives of economy, undor Acts which gave it power to retire mon at an age-limit. Most' of them wero officers of prolonged sorvico, entitled,, to substantial pensions, and their removal from the Servico in these circumstances did not appear a ! great hardship. Apart from these.retirements/-tho retrenchment scheme was'brought home to ordinary Civil Servants only by vague, if y disturbing, statements of the Premier that a - saving to ■: the amount of a' quarter o£ ■a: million was. to bo effected, and that amalgamations were to bo made amongst' .Departments which might, or might ;not, enablo larco reductions to be made - in staffs. , ■ yesterday > the .effects of . the 1 retrenchment project, Vas experienced by tho lower ordera of the Servioe,' passed beyond. tho stage of speculation and" .foreboding, .and.. 'defiriite ;■notice .of important changes and .of . fairly . numerous dismissals was received in several .Departments. . ....', .-• .: -....

: ■ Coologloal Survey Retlucctl. ■ The Geological Survey branch of tho Mines . Department is to be considerably-reduced as V regards both-staff-ahd;operations. In-future ' only one .survey, party is to bs maintained , iii. each island/and tho • elaborate, and expensive bullotins issued'from til/He to time • to .rewrd:;.tho''field mvestigations . of- the . branch s officers will bo suspended. The -last : of these, bulletins/issued ,(No. 7, . now - Bones),-which deals, with tho geology-of Jfche Viueonsfc6wn subdivision, "Western Otago. contains 38 high-class'illustrations, 33 Vftenres,": - ? ®aps-and^lans,.and-four representations ot geowgical; sections'.'; :The bulletins, 1 which ..aro vwy beautifully produced,- are circulated largely, m Jreo. copies, which go to : mining . departments oversea: and other scientific in- '. stitutiona;-; Though they will doubtless.bo'.of va^uo , tofuture prospectors,- as well as ...of interest'to, scientists, : it .is not! probable - that ,tho .aevolopinent.;of.:the'.country's resources, will .bo ( much retarded by' their-' dis- . continuance, a' time at' least;. : \ The 1 ex- . .. penses of .this .branch-w<?re provided for; as ; foliowfl in: tho appropriations of'l9oß-9:—Sal-, ' • Erector £800; '-: geologists,.' j onei-' at • : £350, ' two.. at £2po, -mining geologist ■ £335; ' • - two at- £185 'and two at £175,' topographer £325, assistant'. topographers, two at- £200,; draughtsman £210; -. assistant..: :. draughtsman' - £130, ■ shorthand '.writer, and a. typist £215,-V clerk £115; total . salaries for -16 .officers) - £3975. 'Incidental. , ' f¥ ar gos, totalling 1 included work' done by Government Printor £1250, : expert and v temporary .£800;' .field allowances ■ (nina at £50) £450, travelling allowances'and expenses;■ £600, -tools, - equipment, .'and field expenses, £4750.

, ' Land Tax, Valuation, Eto. v Fairly drastio retrenchment in the Land ; ttnd Incomo Tax. and Valuation Departments / wasexpected as: the result of their amalgamation,, and in .this .case expectation l has been ... realised. The: Prime' Minister, who has .• charge of tlio Land and .Income Tax Depart-! .ment, is still reticent with regard to tho de'tails \of ; retrenchment >but, though no .official information! was;forthcoming,'.it was learned yesterday: that a considerable number of • temporary clerks in tho Land-arid Income ■ : Tax ,Department,.. . Valuation - Department, . .and Advanoes to Settlors Department re-' •.; ceived . notice; yesterday! afternoon ..that. their. services will bo dispensed with' as. from a , date threo months distant. Tho exact figures may bo liable to correction, but' about 15 members. of the Latd and. Incomo Tax

Department .received ..this ''niotioe of tho' ter--V ! miriation ;of ;their. services, -'and .five,' others ? of. .their: 1 , transfer. to other .Departments, of .whom two go •to the Printing OiEoo ani 'one 'to.the Post .Office;'. -In-the Valuation Depart;merit about ' eight - clerks have; been . retired,!: •; . and two!.transferred to the, Audit Department. In the Advances to Settlors Department. ;.' .'! six or. seven! men'; h'avo beendispeneed with, andiono has been transferred to tho Publo ' Trust Office. AH the men retired, in tho . . Land and Income Tax, Department, at , least, ■ are temporary clerks, who have been less than five years- in the service, and a . proportion of them are married men;. Other temporary clerks are still loft in those. De- • ..partments, and opinions differ aa to -wiiethor the men- who. are being dismissed aro thoso who can best bo spared. It is stated, da b matter of injustico, and as pointing to .the . valuo 1 of political infiuenco in those ' crises, : that: two temporary clerks, y.unmarried)' and , of only ; one year's Government'experience,' had been transferred from different Depart- • • ments, to_ the .stable shelter of ■: the Post; Office, while !marned!!men,4.oflonger.;'!experience, liavo had no haven found for them.'. The period from. July to the end of October is said to' bo tho hardest of the yoar in the Land and'lnoomo Tax Depart- . ment,. no . the ; staff is then occupied in got.ting out'the land tax assessments. Tho appropriations for last year: included, ... under the heading,' "extra clerical assistv.anoe,".:.the;foUowin^ = !amounts for .these! Departments:—Land and Incomo Tax, £6019; and Valuation, -£500. • . V V' ; !

Health Department. ;. ( The precise fate whioh.awaits the various soctions of the Health Department is not yet known. Dr, Mason, Chief Health Officer, bado farewell to his.staft yosterday; Dr. Mason'dislikes /'Departments, and,indeference, to i his. >wish',' ? there \ was none.'. To-day, Mr;' Hugh Pollen, will: take over the- Department, as its under-secrotary, an'd,'. 1 it, is understood, -will proc«6d to work' out a -schepie \ of;: retrenchment, : of which' the; details aro not yot. absolutely. sotr tied. ' • The : fate of '~ the bacteriological, office, under Dr. •. ,Makgill, apparently wavers in the balance ; :the district health; officers will probably not. continue 'in' that.capacity, andiit isiunderstood that about', a dozen or i loss ..retirements Tare virtually agreed on. It is expected that Dr. Pomaro's worl, among-'the Maoris will bo continued,' possibly; in , wmnection,'with .'the. Native 'Department,^'but that his present, staff of sanitary inspectors and subsidised medical men will bo at any rato ijiucK diminished, .An : amount is. set'doWri on the Civil.List for vari-; , ous. services- to the Maoris, including , supervision of hygiene, and.this amount will still bo expended."'; >V, i "- : ;" Tho appropriations for /Native purposes tinder tho Health Department last year in-, ; eluded the following amounts:—Health officer to Maoris (also Maori . Sanitary Department £100), £415; Assistant Native .Health Ofiicor (since..resigned), paid ;out of "grant of £3000 from - Civil 'List,-;£3Sosalaries .for medical ; officors.toNatives (paid"by the Public Trustee /,through Health' 'Department), £364; administration of Native medical and health service, £6098. .

Other Departments. ; I It is understood that the;head of a minor | -Departmont, being asked to rodnco his estimate of expenditure for tho coming year, did I so by .20 per cent, and was requested to make further reduction. v, :; . , - The services of. several men have been /. dispensed Jwith. lately in connection with :,tho Public Works and Heads Departments. No further detailed arrangements, havo yet ■ boon made m respcct of tho Agricultural Do. partment.• Tho. _Ministor for Minos (tho Hon. R: / M'Kenzio), when seen by a Dominion reporter yesterday, said that, there'. was : to bo a reduction in the staff of the Geological Sur- > veywhich had been costing too much money. ' • Some of tho men had received three months' notlco,; but ho was not prepared to go into ;: ■ details at present. Ho stated that do other reductions were being made in the'staff of . tho Mines 'Department at present, and there was not much retrenchment being effected so far in tho Public "Works Department. Restricted Use of Tutarwkal. ..Several other, projects are announced for saving money, apart from the reduction of Ttaffa. Tho Government steamer Ttrfcanskai,

fl3riph ias been treed in the past, Bomotimea at' jnooamiieot B&aaons, for Ministerial and other jaturte, transport of coal from Westland, carriage of. stores to lighthouses, and other purposes, will be confined in future to horproper functions of a cabk-ropairing ship tinder tho Post and Telegraph Department. That was her original use,., which, she was specially constructed to carry out, and aa there.are about a soore of cables about the Now Zealand ooast, she is liable to be needed for. repair work at any moment. From the ond oi Juno the Tntanekai will have no connw'tion - with the Marino Department, and 'will be stationed in .Wellington Harbour, with an emergency crew, ready to commence. repairing work at twolvo hours' notice.'

Departmental Publications. It is suggested that a number of Government publications, Buch as the "Now Zealand Mineß. Record," tho Insurance Department's six-monthly organ, and several periodicals of the: Agricultural Department,- which havo been' separately edited in the past, will, for economy's sako, bo reduced m scope, and combined in one vclumo, in the future, nndor. the single editorship of Mr. G. Bisset, who is now editor of publications under the Agricultural Department. But Mr. F. Pope, Under-Secretary for Agriculture, and Mr. Bisset both stated yesterday that they had not been informed of this arrangement. Before joHang the.Oivfl Service'- threo .or four years ago. Mr. Bisse't- was'agricultural editor of the "Canterbury Times." j Whatever else may bo intended"it is probable that the scale and importance of the "Mines Record" will bo considerably reduced, for Mr. P.'Galvinj tho capablo.'and:kindly editor of that.'monthly publication, which ho has watched over since it birth, is retiring from the service under the retrenchment scheme.. Mr. Galvin was in journalism before ho entered tho servioe. "The Insurance R-ecortl," a smart .little paper printed -,by ■ tte.'.D.epartjront, largely for advertising purposesj-is -edited at -present. by Mr. Morris. Foi-.rActiiair; to the Department. ,Tho . "School Journal" will continuo to be published as heretofore. '